The album’s 2-Disc (1CD-DVD) Deluxe Edition features a 15-minute film "Thompson: The Making of Family" on DVD. Utilizing interviews, studio footage and vintage family photos, the film captures the warmth, intelligence and humor of this supremely talented family as they record together for the very first time.
Always intrigued by the idea of what a 'Thompson family' album would sound like, Teddy finally struck upon the idea of each member contributing two songs to the project which he would oversee and produce.
"My therapist had a field day with it," says Teddy. "He said, 'wait a minute, you’re trying to get your family back together!' And that’s exactly right. I’m six years old again, and I’m trying to put my family back together. It was very therapeutic, making the record."
Finally, in 2012, Teddy sent emails to his parents and siblings, trusting that positive reaction and quality music would come back. Both did. The bulk of the album was completed in 2013, with Teddy coordinating with his relatives about their individual contributions. Everybody wrote and recorded their songs where they live and sent them in.
Once the songs were done, family members met up for four days of studio time in London and New York City, where the tracks were recorded with Teddy at the helm. The recordings feature abundant musical cross-pollination from all the performers as well as shared backing vocals.
The album features a wide musical range—from Kami's more poppy contributions like her bright melodic rocker, "Careful," to the familiar folky elegance of Richard's, "That’s Enough," and from Linda's heartfelt ballad, "Bonny Boys," to Teddy’s classic country rocker, "Right." The songs do share an aesthetic and emotional texture instantly familiar as having sprung from this particular family source. And the family members would agree.
"I suppose there’s kind of a folk-rock sensibility to what the Thompsons do, generally speaking," says Richard. "I think everyone’s a bit in in the singer- songwriter style."
Teddy knew the songs would be good—this is the Thompson family, after all—and yet, he says he was surprised by just how good all of the songs were. Well, maybe he wasn’t that surprised.
"I don’t mean to sound cocky or anything," he adds, "but I just felt like everybody’s really good, and everybody was going to write good songs, and do good work, and they did."
Track Listing:
1. Family feat. Teddy Thompson
2. One Life At A Time feat. Richard Thompson
3. Careful feat. Kami Thompson
4. Bonny Boys feat. Linda Thompson
5. Root So Bitter feat. Zak Hobbs
6. At The Feet Of The Emperor feat. Jack Thompson
7. Right feat. Teddy Thompson
8. Perhaps We Can Sleep feat. Linda Thompson
9. That’s Enough feat. Richard Thompson
10. I Long For Lonely feat. Kami Thompson and James Walbourne
teddythompson.com
richardthompson-music.com/
lindathompsonmusic.com/
therailsofficial.com/
concordmusicgroup.com
No comments:
Post a Comment